The one-armed man
by SkyeElf
Summary: It was war. The neighbouring had attacked the castle, and Gunther fought valiantly. But... why was being trialed for treason? He hadn't tried to kill the king, it was one-armed man. Why was Jane being s strange towards him? For jatd4ever's request.


**A/N: This one was requested by jatd4ever. A Jane/Gunther fic with the prompt "It wasn't me, it was the one-armed man."**

**This turned out a bit sad, though. I don't own JATD.**

**The one-armed man**

It had been war. That was all I remember. The castle had been stormed and I… I was left alone.

I remember the _clang_ of swords clashing, the dull _thud_ when a sword hit a wooden shield and the sharper _f'taang_ when the shield happened to be steel. I remember Sir Ivon yelling at me to duck before his head was cut off his body and his head swung towards me with a dark spray of red trailing behind it, his body slamming down hard to the concrete floor as I bent down, a sword barely missing me and saving from the same fate.

This was what I wanted, is it not? I had always wanted to be a knight and to protect the king. I had sworn my life to the king and would lay it down for him at a moment's notice.

The problem was, however, I had sworn to protect the king too, and that meant fighting.

I had ducked under my shield, did a quick headcount of the invading forces, found Sir Theodore, nodded towards him before I started. Jane and I had done it quite a lot, stood back to back to fend of our enemies, but Jane was my partner and Sir Theodore didn't know of our strategies.

Jane was in the throne room, guarding the king. I had insisted on it. I couldn't bear the thought of her being out here. She had fought me at first, but when I explain my motives to her, she reluctantly agreed. I was protecting her too by fighting out here.

Kippernia had come under attack from a neighbouring kingdom just when we were at our very lowest. The knights weren't many, because they were protecting the residents of our kingdom, leaving only Sir Theodore, Sir Ivon, Jane and I to protect the king and his family.

Sir Ivon was dead, his very last moment was spent in an attempt to save me. _I was the reason he was dead._

I don't remember anything after that; later I woke up among the bodies of the enemy and my mentor, Jane and Sir Theodore bent over me in concern.

"Jane," My voice had sounded as though someone had taken my tongue and grated it, "What happened?"

"You saved us," The redhead answered, helping me to my feet, "I saw it from the throne room. You were magnificent, Gunther."

"The king?"

"He's all right, lad," Sir Theodore answered, "I'm afraid Sir Ivon…" He couldn't finish his sentence, but I saw the head, the eyes rolled back into the skull and the body; blood was surrounding the body.

I looked away and Jane pulled me into her arms. My… mentor, the person who was more a father to me than my own father was… he was gone. He was dead. He was…

Jane was still there – she was warm, she was kind, she was strong, she was _here_ and she was _alive_.

. . .

I don't know what's going on. I'm being tried for treason and I don't know why, because it wasn't me. It couldn't be me, because I'd seen the one-armed man do it.

There had been an attempt on King Caradoc's life. A man with one arm had snuck into the throne room, where his majesty was dozing, I was there, I saw him, and he had almost driven a sword through his majesty's neck. Jane had stepped in, flashing her teeth and her sword clashed against his. She threw him off, making him tumble to the ground. She was stronger than she looked. The newest knight was a lot stronger than she thought and I knew.

I woke up in a cell later, with Jane on the outside.

"Jane?"

She hauled around, her sword at the ready. Her grip wavered when she saw me, but her sword wasn't lowered.

"Jane, what happened?"

"You don't remember?" She did lower her sword this time, probably realising that I was behind thick steel bars and I couldn't break out or hurt her.

"No, I remember you and I were in the throne room, and then… a man came inside… a man with one arm, wasn't it? And he tried to murder his majesty. Why didn't I stop him, Jane?" My memory was a bit muddled;it was almost as if I had been a passenger in my own mind.

"Gunther… you… you tried to… kill the king…" She said, gulping. I stared at her. Surely this was a jest? She couldn't mean it. I would never kill the king when I was sworn to protect him.

"It wasn't me, Jane! I swear, it was the one-armed man!" I yelled desperately. How could she even think _I _was the culprit? She'd been there, she had seen it!

"Jane?" A voice called. She looked at the source, keeping her distance from me, and gave a reply that she would be up in a moment.

"Please, you've got to believe me, Jane. It was the one-armed man, you _saw_ him! You fought him! I saw you, please!" I was begging. I didn't understand what was going on, why did she think it was me?

Jane looked away from me, there were tears in her eyes, before she took her sword's handle, tucked the weapon into her belt and left me.

I was alone.

"You're not alone." A voice said. I jumped and swung around, seeing I had a cell mate: the one-armed man. "You haven't been alone since the fight where Sir Ivon died."

"Who are you?" I demanded to know, "And why did you try to kill the king?" Maybe this was what they wanted, for me to interrogate the true culprit. Why hadn't I noticed him before, though?

I was too fixated on Jane, that was probably the answer to that last question. I had grown fond of her, perhaps a little too fond, but I couldn't say for sure if she returned the affections or not.

"Me? I'm the one-armed man." He said, stepping from the shadows. His hair was long and black, curled as they came down on his shoulders; he had a pair of familiar looking eyes. I could've sworn I'd seen him somewhere before. He was wearing a suit similar to mine, but he only had on arm, the other was nipped off just above where his elbow would've been.

"Why did you kill the king?" I yelled at him, sweeping my own hair from my eyes. It was a motion he mirrored.

"It's his fault Sir Ivon is dead. It's his fault all those other men are dead. He should pay for what he has done."

"The king hasn't done anything wrong! It was the knights who killed all those men, not the king!" I screamed at him.

"It was to save his behind, wasn't it, that you killed all those men?" He leered, his face close to mine, I could almost smell his breath.

"It wasn't me!" I yelled at him, surging forward to attack him, but he simply stepped aside.

"It was you, Gunther, and you don't remember it. You saved them all. Jane, the king, his family… and now they're throwing you in the dungeon like a common thief?"

"Shut up!" I slammed my hands over my ears as he stared his jeering laughter, willing him to go away. He was lying, he must have been, because I can't remember anything about the fight. Sir Theodore had saved us all, not I. He must have done it.

I opened my eyes again, he was gone. I swerved around, my hands falling from my ears. The one-armed man was gone.

I was alone.

. . .

The trial was in the throne room. The king was on his high chair, his lovely queen at his side and the two children at each of other sides. Jane was standing directly to his right. She stared straight ahead, she couldn't look at me.

Was it because she was executing me?

"Gunther Breech, you are hereby accused of an attempt on his majesty, King Caradoc's, life." Sir Theodore said. "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty! It wasn't me, it was the one-armed man!" I pleaded with them, my eyes on Jane. She saw him, she fought him, she would let them see my innocence.

Please Jane, my love, please save me.

She didn't even blink, she just kept staring out in front of her. I saw her chest tremble as a shaky breath left her body. Then she turned towards our great king and said something softly to him.

King Caradoc's eyes widened and he looked at me. He called Sir Theodore closer, and the knight crossed with a frown on his aged face. He whispered to Jane's mentor, who also widened his eyes. He nodded towards Jane, and she gave both of them a thankful smile.

"You are found guilty," Sir Theodore said, and I was about to scream in protest when he went on, "However, new evidence provided by Lady Jane Turkney had been taken into account. You shall be handed over to Lady Jane for care."

She believed me! She had saved me from the noose! Perhaps she did love me!

Sir Theodore told her to be careful and handed her a key. She tucked it onto her belt before she made her way over to me, refusing to meet my eyes, taking a hold of my arm and leading me from the throne room.

"What just happened, Jane?"

"Wait." Was all the redheaded beauty said. She took me to one of castle's towers, not the one she slept in, another one that was close to it.

In it was a bed, a chamber pot, a large mirror, desk with a few books on it and a thick carpet.

"Gunther, explain to me what the one-armed man looks like." She said, taking off the shackles between my feet. I thought it odd that they hadn't shackled my hands as well.

"He has black hair, long and curly, and he's taller than you, and his arm is cut off just above the elbow. He has a scar in his one cheek, and…" Jane had turned me around. "That's him! Jane, that's him, arrest him!"

She didn't do anything. She just stood to the side, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You've got to believe me, Jane!" I pleased with her. The one-armed man mirrored my every action. Jane took a step closer, coming to stand behind me.

She was behind him too, and she was smiling a sad smile. I didn't think it was possible to smile sadly, but she did. Her smile faltered and her hands went up to his shoulders very slowly.

Then she was touching my shoulders. And I recoiled. No! No… it couldn't be… how... what… NO! NO! It couldn't be… did I try to kill the king? Did I kill all those men? I almost hurt Jane!

I was standing in front on of a mirror, and the one-armed man was grinning at me.

. . .

**A/N: I hope you like it. Please review.**


End file.
